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opinion editorialsThis editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by editorial page staff and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers
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Sunday, September 27, 2009
Keep Mayor Chávez's Experience and Vision
It's 2009. The country is in the midst of an economic downturn. The state is facing a shortfall in the hundreds of millions of dollars and shedding jobs like a sheepdog in a New Mexico summer. The city is freezing openings and scrambling to hold services harmless. It would be safe, easy, even comforting in this climate to recommend Albuquerque stand pat with its mayoral leadership.
But that's not why voters should keep Mayor Martin Chávez in office Oct. 6.
Yes, Chávez has spent 12 years on the eleventh floor of City Hall as the man in charge of Albuquerque. A good part of his job has been taking care of what he deems the "nitty-gritty" — proposing budgets and ensuring basic needs, from public safety to public sanitation, are met. He's the only mayor in the city's history to serve consecutive terms.
And that means he's the only mayor who has had to live with his successes and his mistakes, who has had to not just own the former but rectify the latter. That has made him a leader who understands the importance of having a vision beyond Albuquerque next week or next month or next year, beyond filled potholes and sandblasted graffiti.
Chávez is the one who capitalized on the savvy San Juan-Chama water deal, setting the wheels in motion to convert the city to river water when it turned out our underground Lake Michigan was more of a pond. He instituted 311, a city call center where residents can report real problems to real people who can do something about them. He established the Safe City Strike Force, cleaning up litter and weeds and cleaning out problem properties. He's the one who finally got the state to meet the city in the middle of the Big Eyesore and landscape the state's most visible interchange.
On Chávez's watch, the Police Department has grown, planned development has become a reality, a green building code has been adopted, the film industry has moved in and sex offenders and traffic scofflaws have been encouraged to move on.
When his vision hasn't quite melded with his constituents' reality, Chávez has been leader enough to regroup and retool. He not only accepted an ethics reprimand in 2001 over ABQPAC — a campaign fundraising arm that helped pay his expenses with cash from city contractors and others who had a stake in city issues; he became a vocal advocate for open government and ethics reform. He not only accepted the voters' will that a transit tax renewal required their approval; he followed through and placed it on the Oct. 6 ballot. He not only heard the criticism when he directed federal stimulus funds to purchase new buses built in Minnesota; he heeded it and instead went with bus shelters built locally and fare boxes made in Taos.
Chávez's critics — including city councilors and his two current opponents — say he's a hard person to get along with. The same has been said about Chávez's predecessors. Smart voters know there is friction by design among the branches of government, that vigorous discourse is healthy, that if they wanted someone to come over and braid their hair and discuss the best singer on "American Idol" they would have a sleep over, not an election.
It's unfortunate that in the waning days of the campaign Chávez has chosen to answer negative campaigning in kind. That simply adds fuel to his critics' fire while detracting from his accomplishments — many visible on the daily commute through town.
"I still wake up with ideas," Chávez says. "It's not just experience — I'm passionate about the job."
In good times, that's important. In tough times, even more so. The Journal recommends Albuquerque voters keep Mayor Martin Chávez in office and the city of Albuquerque moving forward.
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